How many names is too many?

My SO has a family tradition of having a second middle name for each child - Mary for a girl and Joseph for a boy.

It was never a cause for concern until he decided that he wanted to hyphenate his birth father and adoptive father's last name and have his surname legally changed as such. I understand why he made the choice and fully respect his choice, however I'm starting to feel that five names might be one name too many for our future children.

I don't think it's ideal, but it isn't too over-the-top. For me, I would rule out any princessy, fluffy type names because it puffs it up even more. Arabella & Raphael might not work for you as well as Anne or Wren. But really, you know what works for you.

It seems like all of these extra name issues come from your SO traditions & choices so feel free to use that as leverage and get full veto power!

It is definitely a lot of names, but maybe you could somehow combine you're tradition and his last name by making the middle a smoosh name something like Rosemary, Annemarie or maybe even Amerie? or maybe shortening Joseph to Jo?

But in the end, I think five names aren't too bad especially since the last name is only three syllable.

Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns. ~George Eliot